The only reason that I am writing this log is because Daniel has warned me that this is the best way to tell the head office about the expenses of going on this trip. Otherwise I am going to have to sit in front of a committee, having every single purchase of mine checked and judged. It is supposed to be a complicated mess, one that I have no interest in involving myself in.

I will also be making use of this log to properly schedule my work as well. Within a few days, I have managed to accrue a pretty large list of tasks for me to complete. (If my master destroyed all of my formations so that I can focus on the fusion spell, he has not done a very good job of it. Already work is popping up like nothing else. Well, that is life as a formation mage.). Seriously it hasn't been a week and I already feel like I am upto my nose in work.

Well the first task in this list of mine is the coordination matrix. A coordination matrix is a pretty ambitious thing for the ship. I am sure that most of the guard ships that is being run by the guard corps do not have a coordination matrix. They are that rare, at least in this part of the world. (While part of the reason is the cost of the ship, another reason is that running a coordination matrix is something that not everybody is capable off. It is kind of like the sensory formation in that regard.)

My master has done a pretty good job with the ship but the man had only a few days to do what would take a team of men, months to complete. The fact that the man even managed to complete the basic formations is a surprise to me. I mean creating the formations itself is not a surprise after all. But putting so many formations together is very hard. To be frank, I don't know how my master managed to do it for most of the formations. The little that I have understood, makes the entire thing seem like a piece of art.

Most formations tend to interfere with each other in a pretty explosive manner. This phenomena is actually called as the interference. Magic, by its very nature is a manipulation of mana and it is supposed to be a very precise art. We can make use of runes to move mana extremely precisely. A spark spell with just that bit more mana will become a fireball. (Or just as likely to set you on fire.) When you are controlling ambient mana, you cannot simply just make use of your will to create a spell like you can do with vital mana. With runes, we can send mana into the formation in a very precise manner. The only problem in this process is that one rune can control mana just as well as another rune.

If you were to stuff a small room full of formations like this, then one rune can interfere with the performance of another rune and cause the entire thing to become very chaotic. A rune meant to transfer one unit of mana could transfer 0.1 units of mana or in even more extreme cases, ten units of mana. The former will cause the formation to fail and the latter can possibly end in the entire thing exploding.

I think you still can place multiple class nine formations, (at least I have never noticed the interference myself.) but from class eight onwards when formations are placed together they tend to have side effects, most of which are pretty explosive. That is why you actually need managing formations from class eight onwards. (I have heard that from class five onwards, the major work of the central formation is to manage this very interference that exists in the formation. I can't verify that though, as of right now class six formations are also beyond me.)

On top of that my master has placed a incomplete class six formation in the middle of the entire thing. While the formation is still not functional, it's runes are having an affect on the surrounding formations. That is why my master has not added a bunch of formations that would be useful to me but which are not vital to me. Those I will have to add on my own. Knowing my master, he must have assumed that this was the best way to test me. Honestly, I want to figure out this formation as quickly as possible. Even after I have spent so long studying formations under him, I am not able to understand any of the formations that he has designed.

The only formations of his that I have understood, are the one that he copies. The inferior copies that he can produce in moments. The one that he produces for the sake of satisfying the demands of the legion or the guard corps, are the only one that I can understand. His own works are a mystery to me. Even after seven years under him. I have to change that soon enough or things are going to get very embarrassing for me.

I guess that I should speak about how much I owe to the head office as well. That is why I have started this log in the first place. I have brought two things on credit from black mountain. The first is a cannon of the seventh class.

I managed to get it on a deal as well. It is of the fire element and I managed to get it at quite a deal. I managed to get it at five class seven mana stones. Granted, the damn thing is almost on the verge of breaking into pieces, but I will be able to fix it. It is a basic fire element cannon, with a pretty standard design.

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It is a bit ambitious, since I haven't really ever played around with a class seven formation, but I should be able to fix it. Even if I have never really manipulated class seven cannon formations, I have seen their design long enough, that I should be able to do it.

The cost of the cannon was just a bit too tempting. I don't think you would get it at that price even if you were to go and buy directly from a cannonsmith down south.

Already, hexmountain have very few cannonsmiths. The main reason for that actually is the legion. the thing is if you make weapons for the legion, you can only make weapons for the legion only. That exclusivity and the prices that they offer divert the already few good cannonsmiths in the place.

That tends to really drive up the prices in this place. That is why the only cannons that we can play around with are the spoils of war from the guard corps or the legion when they go on their missions.

Even this cannon of mine must have come from one of the pirates in the soldar plains. That is the only explanation you have for this cannon appearing here. The many powers down south certainly do not want to see us succeed, even if they are our allies. That is why even after we have warned them not to send their cannons down here personally, their cannons always seem to find their way down here. (That is why we have a general stationed there at all times. To put their more destructive impulses under control.)

So yeah, all of that in summary is that I have managed to get a cannon that I will now need to sit and repair. That is task number one actually and by far the simplest task that I have right now.

After that, I have brought the materials needed for the coordination matrix. A coordination matrix is also a formation of the seventh class, but the cost of these materials is leagues above the cannon. The reason for that is actually down south. Those damn war mongers would not like these formations to actually become common now, would they.

A complete coordination matrix can go anywhere from ten class six mana stones to a hundred class six mana stones. (In terms of class seven stones that is a hundred class seven stones and a thousand class seven stones respectively. Considering all of my savings together is five class seven mana stones. You can understand why I decided to take it on credit. )

Since I have bought only the raw materials for one, I managed to bring down the price to about five class six mana stones. Making the coordination matrix is going to be my next major task. it is a class seven formation, but I should manage to inscribe one of the class eight spells of the matrix by the time that I will leave for the mission.

Even that class eight spell is going to be enough to make things easy for me, though the class seven one would have been better. It will allow me to coordinate the three cannons that I have on my ship, at least to a reasonable degree.

That is actually going to be task number two. To complete the coordination matrix at least till minor completion by the end of this trip. That should be enough for now.

So yeah, before I go onto task number three, I will have to mention that the total number of mana stones that I owe the legion is going to be five class six mana stones and five class seven mana stones. I don't want any misunderstandings on this later. This is the precise amount that I need to repay. I won't be repaying anything beyond this.

Now to return to task number three, it is naturally the process of figuring out the fusion spell. Well, technically speaking I have already understood the spell, but you have to be careful with anything that involves the mana core. Anything goes wrong and a crack might form on my mana core. Then I wouldn't be able to cultivate and I have heard it is supposed to be painful as well. Before you go about laughing at my lack of knowledge on mana reversal, what can I do, my master has been quite thorough on his ban of knowledge related to cultivation. Even the warnings he keeps away from me.

All I know about it is that it is supposed to destroy your body quite thoroughly and is the most painful way for a mage to die.

After all, if I have managed to get some method of cultivating from my master after so long, I won't destroy my chances due to impatience. That is why I have put this as my third task. It is the most important of all my tasks, but I can't rush it. It is not like cultivating is really going to be enhancing my fighting strength.

As for the final task, that would be to make the class six formation that my master has left for me. This is something that I will not be able to rush with anyways. I simply do not have any knowledge related to it.

I will have to start by doing a detailed analysis of all the formations that my master has left behind in his notes. With that I should be able to finally understand the notes that my master has left behind for me regarding the incomplete formation.

Until then, there is no way that I will be able to do any work on that. It is actually annoying. A class seven formation is still fine. With the way things are going, I will be able to make one soon enough.

The main problem is that my master is simply a bit too beyond me. I have never really managed to figure out any of his formations till now. this incomplete formation of his just might be the simplest formation of his that I might have seen in them all.

Well, I think that I have covered everything of importance in this log. Well, I am going to start my work in the coordination formation now. Right now, the only thing preventing me from leaving for the mayfire's castle is the fact that I am waiting for my troop. Daniels is not going to allow me to leave without the troop.